Heating device for railroad rails and switches



March 27, 1934. w, uENsT 1,952,590

HEATING DEVICE FOR RAILROAD RAILS AND SWITCHES Filed July 50, 1950 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR:

March 27, 1934. w. GUENST 1,952,590

HEATING DEVICE FOR RAILROAD RAILS AND SWITCHES Filed July 30, 1930 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR;

Patented Mar. 27, 1934 snnn rrnq pny oiiron RAILROAD nAn s a WilliamGuenst. Philadelphia; Pa,, assignoroi' nez alft opEr stL, RbaJenkMtwmIa;

APB Q-MiQR-LJQX 9 e al ma s.

2 .Claims. (CL. 219-19) :Thiss n ent on. ate o. m r em n s. eate s ri alroacl .mi sl od nitenes- An object of the invention is to provideaheater with an electrically heated heat conqluctirlg pa tsn athand nlon st wi hu hd t qm fla ai -r y Amt er i g s omz v ea at c n uctin art'en ath: and in on ac it a rack; a .v edefiiten i h r from o .a tion enath.

Q a; w tc ai whic mo abl suppor ed diaeentath' ac r ils n ther Q i c iso, r y dea theater. cat d en atha a fl nd h v n a ho sin xt nd ng;

downwardly therefrom andcontgtiningan elec- I itr g eatingfilemfint;

noth r. ob ect i o n 9vide.... 9 iln$ r q si. nathe..frame heeheat r.nd.,- a o et eri n ther. b e t. to provide. a, eat g:

9" 1.6 1?! Q ovel nstr c ion nd a nave means QIZJ P-PPQIHHEIhG element.n ath he il-1 he. inven n con is s, itheelements.and. t e. mbinati n efthem h re naitendQs ribed and, aimed-1 n the. acpompant/ling.v drawings,llu tratin the invention,

i ile.1.1.1is aside-view of a railroad track rail adjacent to a switchrail, showing my improved heater applied to the base of the track rail.

Figure 2 is a transverse section through the track rail and the adjacentswitch rail, showing the heater applied to the track rail and extendingbeneath the switch rail.

Figure 3 is a vertical section through the rails ,;-and the heater, online 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a bottom view of rails and the heater, 2. part of the heaterbeing broken away.

Referring to the drawings, 2 designates a fixed main or track rail and 4a switch rail which is gg movable toward and from the main rail.

My improved heater is secured to the main rail 2 and the frame 5 of theheater is formed of a metal casting and comprises a top wall or plate 6and a housing 7 extending downwardly 45 therefrom and having an openbottom.

One side of the top wall 6 is fitted against the bottom surface of thetrack rail 2 in contact therewith, and the opposite side of the wallextends beneath the movable switch rail 4. and

ollcibeneath the space between the rails 2 and 4.

The wall 6 is provided with upwardly extending lugs 8 and 9 adjacent tothe respective sides of the base 10 of the track rail 2 for the purposeof engaging the same and preventing displace- -ment of the frame 5transversely of the rail;

l llj hg eil 2 and. l ra re s halt. sstherg tmran of e nr ng.. Qr miasesnst ge. f he.iail; ?l; Q n 31.9; the wa l. mi lamns than eesthslzThe; nll is n ov cl da ith an a m-. 2 wliidkfip s im heto fth ai base.qa daan. a m. 3 .wh qh. nsasesc eh et om.ot he wane; nd he ts ndlorthe.arm 3 is. pr vid d w th a projecting lug 14 which enters a slot 15inthe; Wall. Land... s... adapt d. arnsase. a hlluls r QnnedbyQnes de.Wal he let .ani g s iha clip,iILlJlBLCQ.v 1

Be rei the...springclin ll is, pp ied ta e Wall; finand the. rail base.10,. hesnacebetween. the arms 12 andj13 ,of .the clip is somewhat lessj7 han. that. shown; in. Fi 3,, so. that wh n. the. clipli's applied the.arms I2..and \13 v llbestrung apart and; thereafter. ,firmlyl'clamp.the. wallllfl or. heaterjrame. andthe rail. 2';together as the;cliputend's tores'iime thenormal condition, from: 5 whichit.wasfspr.ung.j

Theislotldeiitends parallelv with the rail .2 vand t: the length of .theslot. is much greater than the width of: the clip 11, thereby permittingthe clip to' be" adjusted .or applied .to the rail .2uandiZframe Q L 5in' di'fierentjpositions o'f .adjustment:longitudinally of :the railIwith respectfto'the frame 5-1:0 avoidtany'obstructioris whiclif mightbe present? and which might otherwise interfere with placing the heaterin a desired position with respect 2 to the rail.

Within the upper portion of the housing 7 is an electric heating element16 which is clamped against the bottom surface of the wall 6 by a plate17 beneath the element 16, and a bolt 18 which extends through the plate17 and the wall 6, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

The open bottom of the housing 7 is closed by a removable heatinsulating plate 19 which is detachably secured by means of screws 20 tobosses 21 which project downwardly from the clamping plate 17. Byremoving the plate 19 access may be readily had to the interior of thehousing.

The heating element 16 is annular in form and 192 it extends around thebolt 18 and it may be of any suitable construction. Preferably itcomprises a ribbon resistance manifold 22 contained within a suitablecasing 23 of insulating material and having its ends connected toterminals 1%. 24 projecting from the casing 23 and connected to electriccurrent conductors or wires 25 which are connected to terminal portions26 which extend through a housing member 27 projecting from the centralportion of the wall 28 of the l lq heater frame 5. This housing member27 extends outwardly from within a hole or opening in the wall 23, theinner surface of which is engaged by an outwardly extending flange 29 onthe inner end of the member 27. The outer end portion of the member 27is exteriorly screwthreaded and a clamping nut or ring 30 is screwedonto the same. Surrounding the housing member 27 between the wall 28 andthe nut 30 is a series of collars 31 each of which is provided with anoutwardly-extending, annular heat radiating flange 32 for a purposepresently appearing. The member 27 and the collars '31 thereon aresecured together and to the heater frame 5 by the nut 30 which, whentightened,

clamps the frame wall 28 and collars 31 between the housing memberflange 29 and the nut.

The outer end of the housing member 27 is closed by a wall 33 formedintegral therewith and the terminal portions 26 of the electric currentconductors or wires 25 extend through and outwardly beyond the wall 33.These terminal portions or members 26 are rigidly connected to the wall33 and they are electrically insulated therefrom and from each other,and the outer end portions thereof are provided with suitable clampingnuts 34 by means of which current conducting wires 35 are detachablyconnected thereto.

The outer end portions of the terminal members 26 and the end portionsof the wires 35 connected thereto are enclosed Within a hollow head 36,one end of which is internally threaded and screwed onto the housing2'7. The other end of 5 the head 36 terminates in a nipple or tubularportion 37 which is surrounded by and connected to a flexible tube orconduit 38 of rubber or other suitable material. The tube 38 is held inplace upon the nipple 37 by a suitable clamping collar 39 whichsurrounds the tube and the nipple. lhe wires 35 extend through the tube38 and into the hollow head 36 and they lead from a suitable source ofelectric current protected by the tube which may be of any desiredlength to meet the particular conditions where the heater is installed.

It will now be understood that when electric current is supplied to theheating element 16 through the wires 35 and 25, the element 16 will heatthe wall 6 which will transmit the heat to the rail 2 by conduction.

When the heater is in operation the wall 28 of the heater frame will beheated to some extent and the object of providing the flanges 39 is toradiate and dissipate the heat for the purpose of keeping the hose orconduit 38 and the wires 35 therein cool.

My improved heating device may be employed on railroad rails in anyselected place where it is desired to heat the same for any purpose. Itis particularly adapted for use, however, in connection with switchesfor the purpose of preventing the accumulation of snow and ice in andaround the same from interfering with the proper operation thereofduring cold and stormy weather; and when it is so employed it not onlyheats the main or track rail 2 by conduction but it also heats theadjacent switch rail 4 by radiation, and the heat ascending from theheater through the space between the rails 2 and 4 serves to prevent theaccumulation of ice and snow therein.

I claim as my invention,

1. In a heating device for railroad rails, a frame having a wall adaptedto fit against the bottom of a rail and provided with a shoulder, aheating element supported beneath and in close proximity to said wall,and a spring clip embracing a part of said wall and adapted to embrace apart of the rail base to hold said wall in contact with the rail base,said clip having a projecting lug adapted to engage said shoulder toretain the clip in place.

2. In a heating device for railroad rails, a frame having a wall adaptedto fit against the bottom of a rail and provided with a shoulder andupwardly projecting lugs adapted to engage the respective sides of therail base, a heating element supported beneath and in close proximity tosaid wall, and a spring clip embracing a part of said wall and adaptedto embrace a part of the rail baseto hold said wall in contact with therail base, said clip having a projecting lug adapted to engage saidshoulder to retain the clip in place.

WILLIAM GUENST.

lie

